Hannah Montana was in town tonight

Well not really. It was so funny to see her with blond hair and she will be the first to tell you that she didn't look like Hannah. We had a great time trick or treating. She went with her friend Sophia, who was also Hannah Montana this evening. The important part is that at the end of the night that pretty sparkly gold bag was about half fun of candy!

Too funny

This week at school was Red Ribbon Week it is a week spent focused on drugs and the message of Don't do Drugs! Well, Monday was make a poster about not doing drugs. This is Hope's idea and design.

Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Not to far down the road is the Walden Farm and every year they have the most wonderful pumpkin patch in the world. And it is free! We have made our annual trek since the girls were two. The water pumps have always been a favorite and it is one of many annual picture spots.

There are all kinds of really great photo op spots. Which the girls are always more then willing to pose for. This year I was lucky and got some really good pictures.
Here is what happens to mommies when they have had too much fun! Amy, CJ, Hope and I have so much fun doing this every year. I am so blessed to have them in my life and to call them family. Photo by Hope.

Pumpkin Guts

We had our annual pumpkin gutting day and things got a little crazy. But we sure had fun! With Matt, our professional gutter, out of town the boys really stepped up to the plate.

You can see the mischief in his eyes!

Let the pumpkin guts fight begin! This was a first in our annual tradition of pumpkin gutting, but they had fun throwing guts and popping slimy seeds at each other. But hey, he started it!
(I know it is here twice but it won't let me take it off)

Time to get down to work. ALL the guts must go!!!

We were also without our design artist this year so between the three kids this is what we ended up with. Turned out really cute. And most of all it was a lot of fun to make.

Update on the puppies

As of today they are four weeks old. And this was their first adventure out into the yard. They are so cute and fun to play with. The one with the pink nail polish on her head is Sarah, she has a new home waiting for her as soon as she is old enough. We had to put the polish on her head so I could tell which one she was. Three of them look just a like.

Meet Sebastian. I think I have been talked into keeping him. He is really cute not to mention the two cute kids that keep asking "please mommy, can we keep him"

Officially a Yellow Belt

We knew she had passed, but on Thursday night it became official. She is a yellow belt in TKD!

Testing for her yellow belt!!!!!

On Thursday, October 16th (Faith's birthday), Hope tested for her yellow belt in TKD. It has been a lot of fun watching her grow in her self-confidence. Just a few short weeks ago she would have been in tears over what she was fixing to do, but tonight she was excited. Here she is all lined up and getting ready for testing to begin. The cute one with the long black ponytail.

Doing her white belt pattern, Chun-Ji. She was in the first group up and I think this helped. She didn't have time to sit there and get all nervous.
Part of testing is also being quized on things like what is the name of your pattern? How many movements are there? What does the color of your belt represent? And a few other questions. She spoke up and knew all of the answers. So proud!
She is done with her part and to show respect to her instructors and senior students she bowed before being seated.
One releaved and happy little girl and one proud instructor. We won't officially know until October 23rd (Daddy's birthday) if she passed, but we "know" she did. One clue was when Mr. Stevens told her she did really good.
I will post a yellow belt picture as soon as I can.

Our fall break trip to TX

We were already planning on going to TX for fall break, we just changed up our plans a little and went to visit Matt at the beginning and end of our trip. Hope finally got to see the ocean. Well technically the Gulf. We waded in the water and collected seashells. We didn't know it until we got back to the hotel but one of our shells still had a crab in it. Opps.

We went to Holly Beach in LA and as you can tell in this picture Hurricane Ike really tore the beach up. We actually stopped in a area that had once been a neighborhood. Out of approximately 50-60 houses there were only 5-6 left standing.
After a day spent with Matt we drove to Houston and flew to Dallas to visit with my dad. We had a great time with him. We went to the Dallas Zoo on Wednesday which just so happened to be dad's birthday! Here is a picture of Hope WAY outside of her comfort zone petting a stingray. I think this is a great example of the confidence she is building because of TKD. She tried to work up her nerve but never did quite get to the point of feeding one. I was so proud of her just for petting one!
Papa and Hope. Hope wanted to be sure everyone knew that there were real tortoises there that were this big, but this one is just a statue. So after a day and a half in Dallas we flew back to Houston and then drove to College Station to visit with Tim and crew. We were there less then 24 hours but it was so nice to see them. We took this picture just before we got back in the car to go see Matt one more time before we headed home.
We had a great trip and loved being able to spend time with those we love.

PUPPIES!!!

Sadie had eight puppies this evening. She and the babies are all doing very well. 5 girls, 3 boys, 6 dark brown like the daddy and 2 blonds like mom. So spread the word, the puppies will be eight weeks old the Saturday before Thanksgiving! :)

David is 21!

Well, Thursday nights are always "Girls Night Out" but this week we let the guys crash our party. We celebrated David's birthday! And of course we did it in style at Chick-Fil-A. Actually it was the one night that we were all available. Minus Matt since he is out of town.

Fourth stripe!!!!

Last night she received her fourth and final stripe on her white belt. She is officially ready to test for her yellow belt. Test date is October 16th, which just so happens to be a very special young lady's birthday. We love you Faith!

Camping and family!

The Friday before Labor Day we traded campers. We were blessed with a GREAT camper at pretty much the same cost as our Outback, God is so good to us. It is huge and we still can't believe it is ours. Sadie is a great dog, and she loves to go camping with us. As soon as we pull the camper up to start getting ready to go she gets excited.

This picture was taken by "Squirt" she loves it when I let her use my camera. She thought it was hilarious to take a picture of her brother's toes.

Being goofy!

Nathan finally went camping with us for the whole weekend. Matt and I were very happy to have him.

I baked a cobbler while we were camping and when I pulled it out of the oven it had this angel in the middle of it. I have no idea how or why. Maybe we shouldn't have eaten it but sold it on Ebay and made thousands of dollars. ;)

Life is good!

She is loving TKD

Here she is working hard to get her high block and punches down. Mr. Stevens is a wonderful instructor who really encourages his kids while at the same time pushing them to do their best.

Now for that front kick.

Working on a GOOD front stance.


Hard work pays off!
She received three of the four stripes she needs to test for her yellow belt. About two more weeks before she test.

I wish I had taken a picture before we started tearing down the wall paper. This was the playroom and before that it was the nursery and years before that it was Nathan's room

This has always been a great little room no matter what we wanted it to be. And now it is our new office. We haven't finished the decor yet, but it is up and running.
I love having a place to be able to work without having to share the space with a TV or playing kids! Note on the right side of the picture is Matt's spot. He has a chair and a portable laptop stand. We spend a lot more time together since we have our office.

I needed to add to our camping trip.

I was so busy trying to catch everyone up on Weaver World that I left out a very important part of our camping trip. On the second night out Nathan and Debra came and joined us for supper and a game of UNO. Matt and I always like it when the boys can come out. Even if it is for just a little while.

Watch out she is going to be GREAT!

She had her second lesson of Tae Kwon Do (TKD) this evening. Tonight she got to kick,block and punch Mr. Stevens. So cool!!!!! Her first lesson not real sure if she would enjoy this, but she wanted to give it a try. Here she is learning a high block.

She was nervous at first, but she got right in there and did really well. Excellent front kick, for the first night.

She was much more excited about TKD after her first lesson.

THANK YOU, Nini!!!!!!

David is at Camp Shelby, MS

We were happy and surprised to get to spend the evening with David the night before he left for Camp Shelby. He left on Sunday and is scheduled to be back on 8/29. Just a reminder to keep Chris in your prayers. He landed in Iraq this past Sunday.

Wow she is in 2nd grade!

It is hard to believe that she is starting 2nd grade. It seems like she just got home. And she is soooo excited about her new Hannah Montana backpack.

Last camping trip before school started.

We took the girls camping the weekend before school started, and we had a blast. It was very hot so we found cool things to do...like play in the lake!

Play hard! Sleep hard!

Matt showing off his hidden talent... well not really ;)

This was our last night out. Always a good time when you are out camping and NEVER enough time.

The movie is starting!!!

At long last the night has come to watch "Hannah Montana Miley Cyrus Best of Both Worlds"

in 3D. You would never guess that the girls have both seen it before they were so excited.

Amy and CJ getting ready for the show.

The world's best dad enjoying the movie with his baby.